T

o not know what happened to your loved ones when the news channels continuously blast reports of carnage and death is an experience no one wants. Parisians and anyone with friends and family in France have been scrambling to find such information since Friday night.

As of Sunday at least 129 were killed and more than 350 left injured by suspected coordinated attacks in six locations in Paris. Targets included a concert hall and a soccer stadium, where crowds would easily be found on a weekend. The Islamic State (IS) movement claimed responsibility for the shootings and bombings; President Francois Hollande declared France would wage a '€œruthless'€ war.

While we grieve for the loss of hundreds of families we must expect further sorrows '€” given the world'€™s experience since 9/11. The US-led war on terrorism is 15 years old and we still face an '€œunknown and historic situation'€, to cite Paris deputy mayor Patrick Klugman. Intelligence authorities had reportedly foreseen a terrorist attack, but they acknowledged being '€œoverwhelmed'€ because the estimated 2,000 French nationals involved in Syrian and Iraqi jihadi networks and about 3,200 other radicalized nationals all have to be watched around the clock by only a few thousand intelligence personnel.

Neither France nor the rest of us have yet been able to come to terms even with the January attacks on the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, during which a cartoon perceived to have insulted the Prophet Muhammad was avenged through the murder of 12 people. Few Muslims applauded '€” claims that slights against Allah and the Prophet can be avenged with such cowardly and indiscriminate criminal attacks on civilians are painful to most of the Muslim world.

Despite many studies on terrorism and interfaith meetings, the so-called global war on terror is far from won.

One US-based analyst claimed that a '€œcult culture'€, rather than religion itself, provides a better explanation for such acts of terrorism. Just as believers of various faiths do not relate to cults ordering entire congregations to commit suicide, relatively few Muslims relate to violence-based jihad. But it is feared an increasing number do and so President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo rightly condemned the Paris attacks.

Therefore, Indonesians cannot afford to merely blame extremists and wars for fueling further violence. Neither can we remain complacent because '€œonly'€ about 200 out of 250 million citizens have joined IS. Indonesian Muslims are entitled to be angry over the easy stereotyping of Muslims as terrorists, which will make life even more difficult for thousands seeking safety from the wars of the Middle East, but Indonesia needs to greatly increase the contribution of its largely peaceful understanding of Islam to global discourse '€” as it is simplistic teachings that appeal to recruits who are drawn to clear, quick ways to end the woes of the world.

Even with a declaration professing '€œprogressive Islam'€ and '€œIslam Nusantara'€ by our largest Muslim organization, as the world'€™s '€œlargest Muslim democracy'€ our credibility is lowered by each report of discrimination and intimidation that takes place in Indonesia against those who differ from the majority.

President Jokowi and the religious communities need to step up campaigns promoting tolerance, while we can only hope world leaders will learn not to engage in a pointless cycle of revenge to seek '€œan eye for an eye.'€